LESSON #6
MINUTE BY MINUTE PIANO LESSON
I’d like to describe the events of a normal piano lesson on a minute-by-minute basis. The child I’m describing has only just started reading music, as well as playing songs by number. The process described is not that of a first lesson, but rather a child who has been at it perhaps a few weeks.
It’s important to note that my manner is casual. I generally start by sitting down and playing something lively so there is not a silence in the room. It’s time for music and laughter! A child cannot resist someone sitting at a piano playing a happy tune.
I teach thirty-minute lessons unless the child is very small, or expresses a desire to stop playing for that day. When they say the lesson is over, it is over. The younger the child, the more this is true. You cannot push it.
THE FIRST FIVE MINUTES
More than anything else, I observe the child’s mood carefully. What are we likely to be able to do today? Let’s assume it’s a good day, and they are in a good mood.
We may play a game like FOURS, described earlier, just to “shake hands,” as it were, with the piano. Or we can play any piano game that does not involve reading music.
Many times the child is eager to play a song they have practiced, or to learn a song they have heard and want to learn.
If they are in a mood to offer a performance, support it in every possible way. Make your hands into a trumpet and pretend herald trumpets are playing. Announce them like a radio DJ. Make them feel important. Some kids don’t like the announcing game but most do.
If they are in a mood to learn a song, drop everything and teach them that song. It’s very important that they be able to play the music that they hear around them and want to play, no matter how much it may have to be simplified.
The real function of the first five minutes is to sweep them up and let them know that we will work, but it will be fun. If they think the mood is drudgery that day, you have lost them already, and getting them back will be difficult.
MINUTES FIVE THROUGH TEN
Once a mood of collegial amusement is set, I might suggest a new piece to play, or ask them to play the first piece they played again.
Somewhere in this second five minutes I touch on reading music, very, very briefly. At the beginning of lessons, this consists of no more than being able to find Middle C on any page I choose.
If you don’t know where Middle C is, here is a music reading tutorial you can view. Or try I CAN READ MUSIC, an excellent introduction to reading music for kids.
I use one of the Bastien books for them to start finding certain, specified notes, not at the piano, but purely on the page. The page and the keyboard, in terms of reading music, are two separate things and will be drawn together later.
If they are a little more advanced, I ask for the first four to six notes of a simple bit of sheet music, which they are allowed to play with any finger they choose.
I follow their struggles to decipher, saying quietly but happily, “Oh, look, it goes up there, and hey, that’s the same note again.”
After a minute or two, I praise them no matter how they did, and say, “Hey, let’s play a fun piano game!” And then we play a minute or two of a piano game, perhaps a game that is related to something they have had trouble with that day.
For example, if a child had trouble reading the brief sheet music excerpt above, we might play sheet music games, where I draw notes on a piece of paper and they can investigate.
Questions arise such as, “Is that note going up to the next one, or down?” You must get them to really observe the page and the nature and movement of the little notes and what they mean. Once again, see I CAN READ MUSIC.
MINUTES TEN THROUGH FIFTEEN
We’re steaming along now, alternating three things: piano games, playing songs by number, and constantly but briefly attacking the basic ideas of reading music.
The forays into reading music should be brief so that the child is not exhausted, which reading music will do in about five minutes. But they must get used to the idea that the somewhat disagreeable side-dish of reading music is always whisked away, and the pain is brief, if any. It will keep coming back, so they begin to accept it.
I might go back now to the very first piece they offered, and let them try it several times, each time with some interesting addition, a left hand note or chord, a place where using your fingers in a row might help. Just friendly suggestions, dropping hints.
Praise every repetition of the song. Just as they get tired of repeating it, stop and announce that they must go in the CHAIR OF DOOM.
The CHAIR OF DOOM is a game where we switch places and I play music about which they must make observations. The name is meaningless except that the game acquires some of the qualities of a raucous game show.
The point is ear training disguised as a game show. Ear training is a part of a professional musician’s training wherein they must listen to music rather than play it, and be able to answer pertinent questions.
At first, the only questions I ask consist of a game called HAPPY OR SAD, where I play music and they try to determine the emotional quality. This might lead to a discussion of chords, and then to a discussion of music theory. For an explanation of chords, please see TEACH YOURSELF PIANO
MINUTES FIFTEEN THROUGH TWENTY
We start to play coordination games. This involves simple musical formulae that involve the child in playing with both hands. Playing with both hands stimulates development of the corpus callosum, a massive network of ganglia in the brain that transmits all thought from one hemisphere to the other.
A coordination game can be as simple as having them play two notes on the piano, one with each index finger, and having them play it regularly like a clock, tick tock, left right, tick tock, left right. Try keys that are five white keys apart. That is a pleasing sound. Or try eight notes away. In Piano by Number, that would be 1, 5, 1, 5, etc. Or 1, 8, 1, 8.
And now it’s time to read music again, so briefly that it goes by without protest. Once again, if there is a basic music reading skill like up/down that they are not quite getting, play games that support learning that skill.
For example, point to groups of notes on a page and then ask if they are going up or down. Kids love glissandos, so play a glissando up the piano and ask which direction it is. (A glissando is when the pianist plays all the white keys of the piano rapidly from one end of the piano to another.) Discuss the nature of up and down and left and right.
MINUTES TWENTY THROUGH TWENTY FIVE
I play keyboard recognition games. The main one is, “Where is Middle C, and for that matter, all the Cs on the piano?”
This really involves furthering their ability to observe the pattern of two and three black keys. This pattern is THE visual key to playing the piano, and almost every other keyboard skill is based on it.
I make them explain it to me in words. “Middle C is the white key to the left of the two black keys.” I play a game we call GORTOK in which I take on the role of a stupid extraterrestrial named Gortok.
Gortok has lost the key to his spaceship and needs to find Middle C to unlock the door. Sounds ridiculous, but it makes kids play-act and really have to explain VERBALLY to me where C is, and how you can find Middle C any time you want by looking for the two black keys. Once they verbalize the location, they generally remember it.
We might play one of the pieces that are part of the regular group. By this I mean that every child has at least a song or two they can play for you. We take that song and add to it, and refine it many times so they begin to understand what it is like to be inside of a piece of music.
MINUTES TWENTY FIVE THROUGH THIRTY
The average attention span of school age kids is about 22 minutes, and we’re already three minutes over the limit! If they are really tired, let them go. Better to leave them wanting more, as the old show business adage goes.
I might ask for the piece they play best, or the new song they wanted to learn, just to refresh it in their minds before we go. For that matter, the last five minutes are a great time to ask them to run through all the songs they know, usually four or five.
I always ask, “Is your brain tired?” They know exactly what I mean and will give you an honest answer. Be wise and err on the side of less is more.
Another ruse in the last five minutes is to play Columbo, the TV detective who seems to be leaving, but always has one more nagging question he wants answered before he finally leaves. You can extend this almost indefinitely, like this:
“Where is Middle C? Play a C chord. Play the lowest key. Play the highest key. Where is Middle C?” Each question is peppered in between bits of songs and other musical tasks that they know are the last thing in the lesson.
We always jokingly go over familiar territory until it is second nature. Children actually like the security that comes from repetition. They just don’t like the repetition that gets them there.
And that is a typical lesson. I try to not give assignments yet, but rather find a song that really intrigues them, and that they want to play. Star Wars, Alladin, Twinkle, Twinkle: anything they know and can be taught to plunk out.
Young pianists who love to play come from these baby steps, repeated over and over until they are secure and can proceed further into musical complexity, all in the same pattern: fun, work, fun, work.
by John Aschenbrenner Copyright 2008 Walden Pond Press All Rights Reserved
You can follow the lessons in the order we present them, or select your own courses from the Course Directory
START LESSON 7
COURSE DIRECTORY
AMERICAN SCHOOL OF PIANO TEACHING HOME PAGE
RETURN TO OUR MAIN WEBSITE http://www.pianobynumber.com
Course One
TEACHING TOOLS
#1 TEACHING CHILDREN'S PIANO
#2 WHAT A CHILD SHOULD EXPECT FROM PIANO LESSONS
#3 WHAT IS FINGERING AND WHEN DO WE USE IT
#4 PIANO BY NUMBER AND OTHER STARTING METHODS
#5 THE FIRST PIANO LESSON
#6 MINUTE BY MINUTE PIANO LESSON
#7 TOYS AND ACCESORIES FOR FUN PIANO LESSONS
#8 READING MUSIC FOR KIDS STEP BY STEP
#9 THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WORST AND BEST TEACHER
#10 A CHILD'S CLASSICAL MUSIC LISTENING LIST
Course Two
TEACHING BACKGROUND
#11 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE PIANO
#12 A SHORT HISTORY OF PIANO METHODS
#13 A PLEASANT PIANO LESSON ATMOSPHERE
#14 ADVICE TO A YOUNG PIANO TEACHER
#15 WHY I TEACH PIANO
#16 A PIANO TEACHER'S EMOTIONS
#17 PACE AND CHILDREN'S PIANO LESSONS
#18 CHILDREN'S PIANO MOTOR SKILLS DEFINED BY AGE
#19 CHILDREN'S PIANO FINGERING OVERVIEW
#20 GUILT IS THE WRONG WAY TO BUY ATTENTION
Course Three
PIANO GAMES
#21 FOURS, A PIANO COUNTING GAME
#22 THE PIANO DICE GAME
#23 PIANO HAND POSITION GAMES
#24 THE USE OF HUMOR IN PIANO LESSONS
#25 HAPPY OR SAD: EAR TRAINING FOR KIDS
#26 FOLLOW THE LEADER: VISUAL PIANO GAMES
#27 PIANO GAMES TO PLAY WHEN ALL GOES WRONG
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
See also: PIANO BY NUMBER, a series of fun books for beginning piano students of all ages.
See also: EZINE ARTICLES, a list of publications which include John Aschenbrenner's writings about the piano.
See also: ARCHIVES at pianoiseasy.com, which contains a large collection of games and articles about children and the piano. Below is a list you will find on that site:
ARTICLES ABOUT CHILDREN AND PIANO
Click here for the FREE EBOOK, a good place to start.
Click here to read the NEWSLETTER ARCHIVES, including lots of valuable information from teachers and parents from various sources.
Click here to read ARTICLES FROM NEWSWEEK and other periodicals regarding children and piano study.
Click here to read an INTERVIEW with the author of PIANO IS EASY.
Click here to read the essay, HOW CAN I HELP MY CHILD READ MUSIC?
Click here to read the entire tutorial HOW TO TEACH YOUR CHILD TO READ MUSIC
Click here to read the report WHAT IS A GOOD AGE TO START PIANO LESSONS?
Click here to read the essay PIANO LESSONS: A CHILD'S POINT OF VIEW
Click here to read the essay WHEN IS LEARNING FINGERING NECESSARY?
Click here to read the article A CHILD'S BILL OF RIGHTS FOR PIANO LESSONS
Click here to read the article IS PRESCHOOL A GOOD AGE TO START PIANO?
Click here to read the article BRAINS, CHILDREN AND PIANO
Click here to read the article WHY THE PIANO IS THE BEST CHILD'S MUSICAL INSTRUMENT
ARTICLES ABOUT PRESCHOOL CHILDREN AND PIANO
Click here to read the article TEACHING PRESCHOOL CHILDREN PIANO
Click here to read the article PRESCHOOL PIANO ACTIVITIES
ARTICLES ABOUT CHILDREN AND READING MUSIC
Click here to read the article HOW TO HELP KIDS FIND MIDDLE C
Click here to read the article WHAT KIDS REALLY UNDERSTAND ABOUT SHEET MUSIC
Click here to read the article WHY DELAY READING MUSIC
Click here to read the article AN EFFECTIVE STRATEGY FOR KIDS LEARNING TO READ MUSIC
SPECIAL EDUCATION AND PIANO
Click here to read the article AMAZING MUSICAL ABILITIES OF AUTISTIC AND ADHD CHILDREN
Click here to read the article HYPERACTIVE KIDS AND PIANO
Click here to read the article PIANO BY NUMBER FOR A SEVERELY DISABLED GIRL
Click here to read the article DOWN'S SYNDROME AND PIANO BY NUMBER
ARTICLES ABOUT CHILDREN AND PRACTICING
Click here to read the article WHY NAGGING YOUR CHILD TO PRACTICE WON'T WORK
Click here to read the article RULES FOR PIANO PRACTICE
Click here to read the article DON'T CALL IT PRACTICE, CALL IT PLAY
Click here to read the article SETTING UP A CHILD'S PIANO PRACTICE REGIME
Click here to read the article WHY CHILDREN SUCCEED AT THE PIANO
ARTICLES ABOUT CHILDREN AND PIANO BY NUMBER
Click here to read the essay THE PIANO WHISPERER
Click here to read the article STARTING TO PLAY PIANO BY NUMBER
Click here to read the report USE PIANO BY NUMBER WITH SCHOOL CHILDREN
Click here to read the article BUILDING A CHILD'S CONFIDENCE WITH NUMBERS
Click here to read the article TURN YOUR PIANO INTO A TOY
ARTICLES ABOUT ADULTS AND PIANO
Click here to read the introduction to EASY CLASSICAL PIANO BY NUMBER
Click here to read the introduction to TEACH YOURSELF PIANO, an excellent guide to important self-teaching points.
Click here to read the article RULES FOR PIANO PRACTICE
Click here to read the article TIPS FOR ADULT PIANISTS
Click here to read the article PIANO FINGER STRENGTH IS CUMULATIVE
Click here to read the article THE PIANO ZONE
Click here to read the article MAKING EVERY MINUTE OF ADULT PIANO PRACTICE COUNT
ARTICLES ABOUT THE PIANO
Click here to read the article HOW GOOD ARE TOY PIANOS?
Click here to read the article ORIGINS OF THE BLACK PIANO KEYS
Click here to read the article HOW TO BUY AN INEXPENSIVE PIANO OR KEYBOARD
Click here to read the essay WHY GRAND PIANOS ARE BETTER THAN UPRIGHTS
Click here to read the essay PIANO WARS: EVOLUTION OF THE PIANO IN AMERICA
Click here to read the essay THE GREAT PIANO CRAZE OF 1910
Click here to read the essay THE BALLET OF THE PIANO HANDS
Click here to read the essay A PIANIST'S MEANS OF EXPRESSION
Click here to read the report HUMIDITY AND YOUR PIANO
ARTICLES ABOUT PIANO TEACHING
Click here to read the article HOW TO FIND A GOOD PIANO TEACHER
Click here to read the article SO YOU WANT TO BE A PIANO TEACHER
Click here to read the article MY CHILD WANTS TO QUIT PIANO
Click here to read the article WHY KIDS NEED FREEDOM TO LEARN PIANO
Click here to read the article PSYCHOLOGY OF HOMESCHOOL PIANO
Click here to read the article THE PIANIST WITH TWO BRAINS
Click here to read the article YOU CAN ONLY ENJOY PIANO MY WAY
Click here to read the article TEN WAYS TO BE A BAD CHILDREN'S PIANO TEACHER
Click here to read the article KIDS SONGS FOR PIANO
Click here to read the article TEACH YOUR CHILDREN PIANO
Click here to read the article ARE KIDS PIANO RECITALS HARMFUL?
ARTICLES ABOUT PIANO LESSONS
Click here to read the article DISGUISING REPETITION IN KID'S PIANO LESSONS
Click here to read the article PIANO LESSONS FOR CHILDREN: HOME OR TRAVEL
Click here to read the article PIANO METHOD BOOKS FOR CHILDREN
Click here to read the article GUITAR OR PIANO: WHAT'S BEST FOR A SIX YEAR OLD?
Click here to read the article TEACHING GUIDE DOGS IS JUST LIKE TEACHING KIDS PIANO
Click here to read the article HOW COME MY KID HATES PIANO?
Click here to read the article USING FAMILIAR SONGS IN CHILDREN'S PIANO LESSONS
Click here to read the article HOW KID'S COMPUTER TIME AFFECTS PIANO LESSONS
Click here to read the article PIANO SOFTWARE OR PRINT BOOKS: WHICH IS BETTER
Click here to read the article FOLLOW THE CHILD'S PACE WITH PIANO LESSONS
Click here to read the article TOYS YOU SHOULD BRING TO A CHILD'S PIANO LESSON
Click here to read the article THE TRANSPARENT PIANO LESSON STRATEGY
Click here to read the article WHAT KIDS LIKE ABOUT PIANO LESSONS
Click here to read the article WHY CHILDREN FAIL AT PIANO LESSONS
Click here to read the article ATTENTION SPAN, CHILDREN AND PIANO
Click here to read the article PIANO FOR KIDS
Click here to read the article CHILDREN'S HIDDEN PIANO TALENT
Click here to read the article SELECTING CHILDREN'S SONGS FOR PIANO
Click here to read the article KIDS MUSIC AND THE PIANO
Click here to read the article CHILDREN'S PIANO POSTURE
Click here to read the article SHOULD PARENTS FORCE CHILDREN TO TAKE PIANO LESSONS?
ARTICLES ABOUT PIANO STICKERS
Click here to read the article WHY PIANO NUMBER STICKERS WORK FOR CHILDREN
Click here to read the article WHY PIANO STICKERS WORK FOR READING MUSIC
ARTICLES ABOUT PIANO GAMES
Click here to see the game QUARTERS: A PIANO GAME KIDS LOVE
Click here to see the piano game FUN PIANO GAME WITH A PAIR OF DICE
Click here to see the piano game MOZART'S FAVORITE MOVIE
Click here to see the essay BASEBALL, KIDS AND PIANO
Click here to read about PIANO CHORD GAMES FOR KIDS
Click here to read about VISUAL PIANO GAMES
Click here to read about THE FUTURE EFFECT OF KIDS PIANO GAMES
MUSIC HISTORY AND HUMOR
Click here to read the article PIANO LESSONS WITH PAPA BACH
Click here to read the article PIANO LESSONS WITH FREDERIC CHOPIN
Click here to read the story HECTOR BERLIOZ AND THE TRAIN WRECK
Click here to read the story TCHAIKOVSKY'S GREATEST FAN
Click here to read the story STRAVINSKY'S GOOD LUCK
Click here to read the article CHOPIN'S SINGING TONE
Click here to read the article MUSICAL FEUDS
Click here to read the article MUSICAL GENIUS
Click here to read the story FRANZ SCHUBERT: THE FIRST BOHEMIAN
Click here to read the story BEETHOVEN'S RAGE OVER A LOST PENNY
Click here to read the story MOZART'S LAST DAYS
Click here to read THE STORY OF HUGO WOLF
Click here to read the story THE WORLD'S LARGEST BLUE DANUBE WALTZ
Click here to read the story BEETHOVEN WAS NO BEAUTY
Click here to read the story VLADIMIR HOROWITZ GOES TO THE RACETRACK
Click here to read the story EINSTEIN'S GYPSY VIOLIN
Click here to read the story IGOR STRAVINSKY LOSES HIS COOL
Click here to read the story ARTUR RUBINSTEIN WAS A VAMPIRE
Click here to read the story EINSTEIN'S PIANO
Click here to read the essay WHY BRAHMS MUST HAVE BEEN FAT
Click here to read the article PIANO HANDS
Click here to read the article THE MASTER'S HANDS
Click here to see the article TAKE YOUR KIDS TO THE OPERA
Click here to see the article GEORGE SAND KILLED CHOPIN
Click here to see the article I MEET AARON COPLAND
Click here to see the story CARL TAUSIG COOKS HIS CAT
CULTURAL CRITICISM
Click here to read the op-ed opinion column WHY AMERICA IS LOSING THE CULTURE RACE
Click here to read the op-ed opinion column WHAT KILLED THE GOLDEN AGE OF PIANO
Click here to read the op-ed opinion column AGAINST FILM MUSIC
Click here to read the op-ed opinion column CARNEGIE HALL STARTS IN YOUR LIVING ROOM
CHORDS AND MUSIC THEORY TUTORIALS
Click here to read the tutorial ROOT POSITION CHORDS
Click here to read the tutorial FIRST INVERSION CHORDS
Click here to read the tutorial SECOND INVERSION CHORDS
Click here to read the tutorial THE SIX BASIC CHORDS FOR CHILDREN
Click here to read the tutorial TWO NOTE CHORDS FOR KIDS
Click here to read about PIANO CHORD GAMES FOR KIDS
Click here to read the article WHY CHILDREN SHOULD LEARN ABOUT PIANO CHORDS
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